His Little Girl
by K. Lynn Perks
Summary: Harry has an early morning fatherly chat with his daughter Lily about the Sorting, Squids and well, Boys. One shot showing some parental love.


Hi all! Just a little one shot of Harry having a fatherly discussion with Lily. Something that's just been on my mind recently. This is my first time writing a next-gen character so Im a little nervous. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own HP in any way.

Please leave me a little review to let me know what you thought!

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**His Little Girl**

Lily Luna Potter was quite eager that bright early morning of September first. Well, perhaps eager was a slight understatement. The alarm clock on her wall barely had a moment to settle on 5am before she was kicking her legs over the side of her bed and hurrying down the stairs and into the kitchen. She had expected that at least one of her brothers would be awake by now, or at least her Mum, but the eerie quiet that enveloped her had her wishing they had all stayed at The Burrow with her extended family. At least at the Burrow there was bound to be someone up at this hour. How could anyone be sleeping? Today was the first day of school!

Pushing one of the kitchen chairs against the counter Lily climbed up and reached for the cupboard. Today was going to be a fantastically great day, and she was going to start it by having her very first mug of coffee. She had seen her Dad make it loads of times so she was pretty certain she could handle it.

As her fingertips poked the pretty pink mug her mother had bought her last Christmas, she sneezed and the mug slipped off the cupboard shelf and crash down onto the kitchen floor.

So much for being grown up.

"Lily?" Her father's voice made her jump and she spun around to see him standing there still clad in striped pajamas.

"I'm sorry Dad, I just wanted –" she made to move off the chair.

"Wait." He held out his hand and removed his wand from his waistband. With an expert flick of his wrist the pink mug shards melded back together until it was sitting back in one piece at the foot of the chair. "Wouldn't want to cut your feet up on your first day of Hogwarts, would you?" Harry should have scolded her for climbing on the counter, but the look of excitement in his daughter's eyes softened him up.

"Thanks Dad." Lily hopped off the stool and pushed the chair back against the table.

"So," he yawned, "what are you doing up so early?" Harry bent over and picked the mug up from the floor.

"Really Dad? Is that a serious question?" She climbed up onto the chair and tucked her legs beneath her. "I've been waiting for this day almost my whole life!"

Harry sniggered as he removed a bottle of juice from the refrigerator. "Oh have you now?" He grabbed a clean glass and poured his daughter some. "I wasn't aware that today was a day of epic proportions."

Lily dropped her head to the side and looked up at her father, "Dad, do you know how long I have waited to go to Hogwarts?" She gave a frustrated sigh, which again made Harry suppress a soft chuckle.

"Oh right, today is _that _day." He joked, "Here I was thinking it was something else…" He slid the glass of orange juice over to Lily. "Are you excited?"

"Well, yes I really am. " She paused, took a small sip of her juice and then lowered her chin into the palm of her right hand, "James and Al have been telling me a lot of things that I need to know."

_Well that's a comforting thought; _Harry pulled out the chair adjacent to his daughter and took a seat. "Well, before you start taking James or Al's advice on anything how about you tell me some of their words of wisdom?" He mused, and then looked towards the coffee pot. Using some wandless magic he smiled and relaxed into his chair as the little coffee machine started to percolate.

Lily drew in a deep breath, "James said that when I get to the sorting and they call me up I need to spin around in a circle five times and blow a kiss towards the house I want to be sorted into. " She scrunched up her nose, "But what if I get dizzy and then accidentally look at the wrong house? Will the hat know that?"

Harry ran a hand over his face. "Listen, Lils, you do not have to spin in any circles or blow kisses to get sorted. You just walk up there and place the hat on your head. It will take it from there."

"Ok well what about the battle with the Giant Squid when the first years cross the lake?"

"Did James tell you that?"

"No Al did." She took another sip of her juice.

"There is no battling with the Giant Squid when you first cross the lake." He smirked, "But that doesn't mean it's safe all the time either. Just stay out of the lake during the year too." Lily wasn't a great swimmer so he doubted she'd be foolish enough to play around there anyway.

Lily giggled, "I don't like swimming much anyway, Dad." She repositioned herself so she was now sitting on her bum while her feet barely touched the ground.

"So," he got up as the coffee maker beeped, "did your brothers produce anything else interesting?"

He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he poured the coffee into a mug. Sometimes she looked so much like Ginny as she scrunched up her face while deep in thought. Her mouth twitched up to the same side as her mothers, and the way she sometimes bit down on the tip of her thumb all reminded Harry of a younger version of his wife.

With his coffee mug filled to the brim he slid back into his seat and then leaned forward and ruffled Lily's hair, "Anything kiddo? Or was it just the circling spinning and squid battling?" He grinned and then took a long much needed sip of his morning coffee.

"Is it true you have to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend during your first year?"

Harry nearly choked on his coffee, spitting it back into the mug while he tried to catch his breath. "Wh-what?" He gave his daughter a look through his now watery eyes.

"James said that in your first year you have to find the person you are going to marry."

This was usually Ginny's area of expertise. Whenever the boys asked about girls Harry was the one to give them 'the talk'. It wasn't as if he wasn't close with his daughter, but he wasn't entirely sure he was ready to talk potential suitors with her. She was only eleven for Merlin's sake!

"Oh- well- you see the thing about marriage- erm-"

"Isn't that when you met Mum though? When you two were my age?" She asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Well yes, I mean no, not like that, well I suppose we were in school…Merlin what time is it? Is your mother up yet?" He took a quick glance towards the clock on the wall.

Lily's eyebrows were raised in confusion, "So what is it then? Yes, you knew you were going to marry Mum when you met her or not? You are being awfully confusing."

Harry sighed again and ran his hand over his flushed face. He never expected that he'd be this deep in conversation with his eleven year old at 5:30 in the morning. Then again Lily was so much like her mother that he shouldn't have been surprised with how often she shocked him.

"Come here Lils," He pushed out his chair a bit and gestured to his lap.

Lily, both hands wrapped around her juice glass, slid carefully from her chair and padded over to her father. He pulled her up and placed her on his knee. She was getting so much bigger now. Soon these conversations about boys and dating would be more than silly ideas that her brothers put into her head. Soon she'd actually want to go out on real dates and bring real boys home to meet the family. Harry thought back about his own days as a pubescent boy and groaned. Knowing exactly _what_ would be pursuing his daughter in the future scared the hell out of him.

But he wasn't going to lie to his daughter…eliminate some of the details most likely, but he refused to lie.

He sighed, "Yes I knew Mum when we were very young, and yes I even knew her when she was in her very first year of school."

"So did you ask her to marry you then?"

Harry looked horrified, "No, I was twelve and she was eleven. We were too young to think about thinks like love and marriage."

"But James said…"

"And how many times have you learned the hard way that James isn't being honest?" Carefully he removed her juice glass from her hand and placed it on the table. Harry shifted her around slightly so he was able to look her in the eyes.

"A lot I guess…" she muttered and then leaned back against Harry's chest.

"So how do you know when you are in love?" Her voice was soft and delicate.

Harry took another deep breath and leaned his chin down on the top of her head. "It's a weird thing, love is, Lils. I mean one day you'll meet loads of boys who think you are smart and pretty and want to take you out on dates."

"You think so?" She perked up, giggling for a moment.

"Oh I know so." He stated firmly, "You have your mother's beautiful long red hair and your grandmother's beautiful green eyes. Your smart like your Aunt Hermione and you are funny like your Uncle George." He paused, "And you even have that stubborn little streak in you like your Uncle Charlie."

Lily pursed her lips together and then clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "I didn't know I was that cool. Albs and James always call me a baby."

Harry snorted back a laugh but played it off as a cough. "I don't think they let babies into Hogwarts, Lils."

She nodded, "You make a good point Dad." And Harry suppressed another laugh. Merlin he was going to miss his little girl while she was away.

"But how will I know which boy is the right boy? How did you know you wanted to marry Mum?"

_Well she certainly is inquisitive enough for Ravenclaw_ Harry thought. "That's the part that will always be the hardest Lils. You may think that every single boy you meet is the boy you are meant to be with. You may fall in love or you may just think you have, but when you truly really find the person that you want to spend your life with you'll just know. You'll know because it feels like you couldn't possibly face another day without that person in your life; they will know how to make you laugh and cheer you up when you are sad. More importantly they will make you the happiest you have ever been. They will accept you for who you are and all the good and bad that comes with you. They'll complete you." He grinned, "That's what I felt when I knew I wanted to marry Mum."

"Will I get hurt?"

He began playing with a fallen strand of her hair, "Yes. You probably will." He paused, "But you have a very strong heart Lily Luna Potter…and you have family who loves you and cares about you."

"And brothers who will beat up any boy that makes me angry." She grinned, and Harry couldn't help but laugh again.

"So I don't have to pick the boy I want to marry this year?"

Harry chortled, "No, you don't need to pick out a husband this year or next year...in fact I'd like to think that you'd wait till after you graduate Hogwarts to start dating."

Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder, "Ok Dad. I'll do it for you."

_Not likely_; Harry thought but merely hugged his daughter back.

"You should start getting yourself ready before the boys get up. This way you don't have to fight for the bathroom." He kissed the top of her head and helped her slide back to the floor.

"Yeah, I'm tired of dealing with the smell in there after they come out." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and Harry shook his head.

His little girl had grown up. Despite all her questions, all her worries; Lily wasn't the baby that he hoped she'd stay forever. "Hurry up then." He gave a nod of his head and chuckled as she dashed out of the kitchen towards the staircase.

Harry lifted his mug of coffee to his lips again. He'd have to talk to the boys about looking after their sister. He'd also have to remind them to refrain from all the rumors and advice they had been providing her.

A thudding of footsteps was coming back down the stairs and towards the kitchen, Harry assumed either Albus or James had finally woken for the day but was surprised when Lily came bouncing back in on her toes.

"What's up kiddo?" He placed the mug of coffee down and quirked his brow. Silently she ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck.

"I love you Daddy." She hugged tighter, then quickly pulled away and bounded out of the room again before he could reply.

Harry chuckled and leaned back into the chair again. Yeah, she may have been growing up, but she was still his little girl.

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